PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Mercury, the people, are ready for the playoffs. The Phoenix Mercury, the team, however, could still use some conditioning.
"Man, are we still talking about Diana and Penny?" forward Candice Dupree questioned with a laugh after a post-practice inquiry on Thursday.
Dupree, of course, is talking about Diana Taurasi and Penny Taylor, who voluntarily sat out this WNBA season. For Taurasi, it was at the request of her Russian Premier League team. For Taylor, the decision came after the death of her father.
The absences have seemingly made as many headlines as the players who are there. This, despite the Mercury clinching the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, with repeat dreams in sight.
Yet, when Dupree was asked if she was happy with the season, she still took close to a five second pause before saying, "I guess you could say we're happy."
That hesitancy isn't something Dupree or the rest of the team is eager to hide. They know there have been missed opportunities and a lack of consistency.
Much of that can be blamed on the incredible amount of roster turnover. Only five players on this year's team were part of the squad that brought a third WNBA championship to Phoenix a year ago.
After winning a WNBA title in her first year leading the Mercury, head coach and vice president of player personnel Sandy Brondello encountered an entirely new set of challenges.
To make matters more complicated for the second-year head coach, the only players who have been in Phoenix longer than two seasons are also the team's three leading scorers: Dewanna Bonner (seven seasons), Dupree (six seasons) and Brittney Griner (three seasons).
"I wouldn't say it's made it easier," Brondello said. "Sometimes, when you've got the best player out there, it's easy to put the ball in her hands and think good things will happen. But it makes us all grow."
For Dupree, the challenge hasn't so much been strategic but mental. When Taurasi was with the team, she was the unquestioned vocal and exemplary leader. But in her absence, Brondello asked Dupree -- a far less outspoken player -- to not only lead by example but vocally, too.
It hasn't been the easiest transition for Dupree, but, "We have a good time," she said. "It's nothing but laughs in the locker room."
It's difficult to determine what is missed most about Taurasi and Taylor. While they were the two unquestioned leaders of the team, Brondello is also quick to declare Taurasi the best player in the world.
Brondello, though, believes the team is beginning to put the pieces together at the right time. At the start of the season, there was a process of finding out what worked and what didn't when it came to replacing Taurasi and Taylor.
"You just try to fill the gaps as best as you can," she said. "At any given night, someone has to step up. And we knew not one person would. It had to be a collective effort."
Brondello specifically noted the combo of new additions Leilani Mitchell, who has brought her energetic defense, and Marta Xargay Casademont, who's added size to the backcourt, with her 5-foot-11 frame.
But that's not to say Taurasi and Taylor's absence hasn't hurt the team. The Mercury's fast-paced offense led the WNBA in scoring with 83.5 points per game last season, while they're just eighth this season, with 74.9 per game. More bluntly: A 19-13 record vs. 29-5 last season.
Yet, the Mercury -- with the No. 2 seed in hand -- are still in position to defend last season's title, Taurasi or not. But it's difficult to ignore the potential of this team with Taurasi and Taylor.
"Oh, that'd be a guaranteed back-to-back," Dupree said.
